How do "phantom traffic jams" happen?

[Flat4_driver]

Pretty much anyone of us that lives in a big city anywhere in the world has come across a phantom traffic jam. Basically a traffic jam that just appeared out of nowhere with no accident, lane closure, road construction to cause the traffic jam. You wait and wait to see what caused the traffic jam then all of a sudden everything clears up. Some ridiculously smart guys have come up with an actual equation on how and why this happens. Their equation and explanation are in the link below.



Equation: Factors for Predicting Phantom Traffic Jams | Magazine

[FT86-guy]

I always wondered about that. Usually driving home from work theres always a section of highway that has a huge pile up. But as soon as it gets to a certain point it magically clears up.

[car_crazy]

whatever possessed them to make an equation for phantom traffic jams? either way i think its pretty cool that they did. hahaha.

[Microcosm]

IMO, it's usually some idiot that jumps lanes without signaling because he thinks he's better than anyone else. The person behind has to jam on their brakes, and you get the whole whiplash thing happening.

If this happens when traffic is light, the flow recovers pretty quickly, but when volume is high, you end up with a stoppage on the road. If you think about it, this most often happens in the so-called "fast lane"... the place where most people cut in to.

[jack_bower]

Where I live, traffic jams are the norm. Dumb drivers.

[Paul]

Wow, lots of free time on their hands I guess!!

[Barbosa]

Can I get an app for my iPhone that will show me the calculations of when and where the phantom jams will occur so I may avoid them?

[Flat4_driver]

Can I get an app for my iPhone that will show me the calculations of when and where the phantom jams will occur so I may avoid them?

That app would be worth so much money if it worked properly. Imagine being able to avoid traffic easily. There are some GPS that have a feature that gives you real time traffic updates though.

[jack_bower]

Seriously, I almost failed math in grade 4. How am I suppose to make sense of this?

[car_crazy]

Seriously, I almost failed math in grade 4. How am I suppose to make sense of this?

basically to sum it up. its like this. a car brakes on the road then a traffic jam happens. lol. i cant understand the equation too. hahaha